William Lloyd Garrison (1805 – 1879)

Mobbing in Boston

William Lloyd Garrison  was a prominent American abolitionist, journalist, and social reformer. He is best known as the editor of the radical abolitionist newspaper, The Liberator, which he edited from 1831 until the end of the Civil War; and as one of the founders of the American Anti-Slavery Society. In 1835 he was imprisoned for writing what were considered libelous statements about a New England merchant; who at the time was shipping slaves from Baltimore to New Orleans.  He simply paid his fine then went to Boston to continue his work. While there he was mobbed, dragged through the streets of the city, and nearly killed.  His press was destroyed and a law was passed making it illegal for copies of the paper to be sold to free blacks. Despite all of the opposition, Garrison survived and so did his newspaper.

He was also an early opponent of the use of alcohol, profane language, violence, sexual vice, and vulgar types of entertainment.

E-Mail Me

A Hodge Podge of Canadiana

Uniquely Canadian Home Page

Victorian Canada Home Page